Description [en]

Pianoteq represents the future of virtual pianos, providing the best and latest technology available. The sound is reproduced through a physical model that simulates properties and behaviours of real acoustic pianos. This results in a remarkably playable, vivid and adaptable instrument. The size of Pianoteq is just 40 MB (MegaBytes) and installation is quick and easy. You can use Pianoteq on any modern laptop and connect it to your MIDI compatible piano keyboard.

The Pianoteq technology

Characteristics of Pianoteq

➤ The piano sound is constructed in real time, responding to how the pianist strikes the keys and interacts with the pedals ➤ It includes the entire complexity of a real piano (hammers, strings, duplex scale, pedals, cabinet) ➤ Continuous velocity from pianissimo to fortissimo, with progressive variation of the timbre: that makes exactly 127 velocities! A sample-based software program would in theory require hundreds of gigabytes for all these velocities ➤ Complex resonances that only a model can reproduce in all its richness:• "Harp" resonance of all strings, both without and with sustain pedal• Duplex scale (the undamped string parts which come into resonance)• Sympathetic resonances between strings• Damper position effect when key is released (variable overtones damping)• Other special effects like staccato and sound continuation when pressing down the sustain pedal a short time after key release (re-pedalling) ➤ Timbre modification of repeated notes, due to the hammer striking strings which are already in motion instead of being still ➤ Release velocity ➤ Eight types of pedals (that can be assigned to the four UI pedals):• Progressive sustain pedal, allowing the so-called “half pedal”, but also quarter or tenth’s pedals if you want!• Sostenuto pedal, allowing you to hold some notes after release without pressing down the sustain pedal,• Super Sostenuto pedal, where the notes held by the sostenuto can be replayed staccato, which is not possible on a “real” piano,• Harmonic pedal, allowing you to play staccato while maintaining the sustain pedal resonance,• Una corda pedal, also called soft pedal, modifying the sound quality or timbre by shifting the piano action to the right (on grand pianos),• Celeste peda, where a felt strip is interposed between hammers and strings, creating a softer sound. This pedal is usually found in upright pianos,• Rattle pedal, also called bassoon pedal, which equipped certain historical pianos, as for example the Besendorfer from the Kremsegg collection. A piece of parchment comes into contact with the strings to create a buzzing noise resembling the sound of the bassoon,• Lute pedal, where a wooden bar covered with felt is pressed against the strings, shortening the duration of the sound. It can be found in some historical pianos. ➤ Variable lid position ➤ Natural instrument noises including:• Variable action key release noise (varies with note duration and key release velocity if present)• Damper noise at key release (mainly for bass notes)• Sustain pedal noise: pedal velocity dependant “whoosh” produced by the dampers rising altogether from the strings or falling down ➤ Choice of microphone position and multichannel mixing (up to 5 mics, 5 channels) ➤ Microtuning and scala format files import ➤ Various effects including equalizer, keyboard velocity setting, volume, sound dynamics which controls the loudness levels between pianissimo and fortissimo, reverberation with control of reverberation weight, duration and room size, limiter, tremolo.

Why a sampled piano is insufficient

The very best sampled pianos of today are the result of many hours of careful recordings associated with complex solutions designed to provide a valuable piano sound. We respect the work of these high class competitors who manage to develop sampled based pianos of this quality. However, as is well-known, sampling technology itself has inherent disadvantages.

To give you an understanding of the reasons why we chose to develop Pianoteq we find it necessary to describe the shortcomings of using samples to create a digital piano:

✔ The sampled piano contains static recordings of each note, how it sounded during a particular moment in time. It does not take into account the influence of other strings vibrating, cabinet resonance, pedal interaction and hammer position.✔ The sampled piano cannot alter the existing piano samples when it comes to parameters such as hammer hardness, unison tuning, cabinet size, overtones spectrum etc.✔ The sampled piano has several technical limitations such as audible quantization noise and uneven variation of the timbre (from ppp to fff).

Despite many recent attempts to enhance the sampled piano sound by adding convolution reverb and other post processing effects, the technology as such has too many limitations when it comes to achieving a truly vivid and convincing piano sound.

What makes Pianoteq unique

Pianoteq offers many unique qualities and features that make it superior to other virtual pianos:

VividThe piano creates the sound in real time while you are playing and takes into account all the complex factors that makes the piano a truly vivid instrument, such as the interaction between strings, the use of pedals, the cabinet resonance and the position of the hammers. It will feel like you have a real piano in front of you... as if you could just lean over and touch the strings!

VersatilePianoteq introduces new methods to adjust the piano sound to just the way you like it! Changes that until now could only be made by piano tuners are now possible directly from the interface. Within seconds you can adjust the sound to a particular type of music or playing style. The many choices can be saved as a customized setting which you can share with other Pianoteq users.

ExpressiveAll the detailed variations of the timbre are there, from the weakest pianissimo to the strongest fortissimo! What you express on your keyboard will also be what you actually hear. The sound of even the weakest pianissimo is absolutely pure without any audible quantization noise.

ConvenientConveniently for the travelling musician, Pianoteq runs well on a modern laptop. Pianoteq loads quickly because of the extremely small size (40 MB).

Wikipedia :Pianoteq is a software program that allows real-time MIDI-control of digital physically modeled pianos and related instruments. It is usable as a stand-alone program for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms, or as a plug in for VSTi hosts and two VSTi counterparts.

History and technology

The original version of the program was released in August 2006. Physically modeled pianos like Pianoteq or V-Piano (Roland) create sound from scratch using several megabytes of mathematical algorithms (Fourier construction) to generate electric piano and acoustic piano sounds that can be manipulated analogously to those produced by their material counterparts. Pianoteq's modeled sounds are supplemented with sampled pedal thump, key release, and hammer thumps.

Patches for additional instruments are also available. Several of the historical instruments were created as part of the KIViR (Keyboard Instruments Virtual Restoration) project, which aims to create playable digital models of historical keyboard instruments in museums like the Händel-Haus in Halle.